Impact Investing - Doing more in Delaware County
Earlier this year, The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County joined three other Indiana community foundations to participate in the Indiana Local Impact Investing Accelerator. Within our peer-learning cohort, we are exploring opportunities for investing a portion of endowment locally to provide greater community return.
The Accelerator, the first of its kind, was designed by LOCUS Impact Investing, a national nonprofit that helps foundations and philanthropic coalitions invest locally for community impact. Oversight is provided by the GIFT Technical Assistance Program, a signature program of the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance (IPA), of which the Foundation is a member.
A work group from the Foundation, which includes president Kelly Shrock, senior program officer Marcy Minton, finance officer Trina Bowling and board members Carol Seals, Trent Dowling, Kathy White, and Magi Kirkpatrick Sikora are investigating opportunities for impact investing. Over the course of the Accelerator program, the work group will attend three, day-long intesive trainings with the other three participating community foundations. The local work group will also meet with consultants at LOCUS and complete additional assignments. At the end of the Accelotaor, the work group will have created a locally relevant investment strategy to share with the full board of directors. The strategy will likely lead to a pilot local investing program to launch in 2022.
Local impact investing is an emergent practice with no one-size-fits-all approach. Being a part of this peer-learning cohort allows us to explore opportunities and access guidance to develop a strategy that fits the Muncie and Delaware County community while taking into consideration the history and mission of our organization.
“We believe there is opportunity for The Community Foundation to do more for our community. Our board of directors is committed to putting more of our resources to work in Muncie and Delaware Countyby exploring impact investing.” - Kelly K. Shrock, president
